THE CHILD
by KatieBY
Summary: They felt that their life was complete, they loved each other, they were together, they were everything they wanted and needed. However, when a small child bursts into their lives all their convictions are turned on their head. Can Severus and Hermione be the people that this little angel needs in his life?Are they ready to dive into the crazy adventure of parenthood?
1. Chapter 1

**GRAMMAR NOW CORRECTED**

**I don't own Harry Potter, I just like to entertain myself a bit with its wonderful characters. I am not a native English speaker, so I am sorry for any mistakes in the translation as this is a story originally in Spanish.**

**Special thanks to NinjaDevil2000 and Number1Penguin for betaing this chapter, thanks for your wonderful work.**

**THE CHILD.**

Severus sighed. He'd gone to the place she had called him to. It was a rare occurrence that she asked for his help, let alone help with matters such as school. She knew very well that everything related to school was a thing of the past for him. He was perfectly happy with his current job at home, creating potions of all kinds which he sold to various distributors. So now, receiving a call from his wife, who was saying that she was in the Muggle world and needed him to join her because, in her words, she was losing her mind and didn't know what to do, he went to join her without a moment's hesitation.

His surprise was even greater when he apparated to the place she had told him; it was in a good neighborhood, but a bit snobbish for his taste with its luxurious houses with large elegant courtyards and ostentatious cars. He called her again, using the Muggle phone he had hated at first, but now saw as quite useful. He told her that he was in the neighborhood, but wasn't sure where to go from there. She replied quickly and told him to go to the nearest house.

Her voice was quite calm, however, and for an expert ear like his own, one trained in reading her voice perfectly, he hardly noticed any tension. He walked quickly to the proper house she had mentioned and was about to knock on its door, when it was suddenly opened, and his wife appeared, a child wrapped around her like a monkey. Hermione's eyes were bright and she hummed softly to the small boy, a boy who couldn't be older than two years of age. She looked at Severus for a moment, exchanging short looks which conveyed an entire conversation, and made a gesture, saying that he should come in. Severus stepped inside while Hermione closed the door behind him, neither of them saying anything to the little boy.

"Alright, dear, this man here is Severus, okay?" Hermione spoke softly to the boy. "He'll hold you for a moment while I go and talk to your parents." She spoke the last word as though she had just bitten a lemon.

Without giving Severus or the boy time to react or ask any questions, Hermione took the boy off her hip, although he didn't want to let her go, and put him in Severus's arms. It was something that took Severus by surprise and, accommodating the boy as best he could, he looked back curiously at Hermione, but she had already advanced into a room beyond the hall where two people were standing, presumably the parents of the boy. Hermione was waving her wand, casting a silencing spell.

The boy watched him, and Severus wondered if children were like pets in the sense that they were able to perceive tension, for Severus was feeling more tension than he had in a quite a few years. Never had he held a child before, not even any of his wife's nephews and nieces, let alone any of the Potter children. To him, children were merely small, snot-filled pests who somehow, someway, grew up to become proper adults.

Hell, even when he was a professor at Hogwarts, he had hated the lot of the students there. Luckily, this child seemed fairly content. He wasn't moaning or crying or anything of the sort; instead, the boy just had his eyes fixed on Severus in absolute concentration. Apparently, the boy sensed that this man wasn't dangerous, for he laid his head on Severus' shoulder and started sucking on his thumb. Severus hoped with a sense of dread that the boy wasn't about to start drooling on him.

…

Hermione was laying in bed, her mind spinning, unable to sleep because of her thoughts of the little boy, a baby practically, who was a wizard. Obviously, she had dealt with an adequate number of cases of abuse in her position as Deputy Headmistress, some more serious than others, but that little boy- He had affected her, marked her, in some special way. She could not forget how he threw himself into her arms and hugged her as if there wasn't anything else in the world for him. Having to leave the boy there with his _"parents"_ was the most heartbreaking thing she had ever done in her life.

"Are you going to tell me what's wrong or will I have to guess?" Her husband growled from his spot by her side. His eyes were closed, but he had easily noticed her agitation which was so intense that it seemed to radiate from her body.

"I can't stop thinking about the boy." She whispered back to him.

"I can't either." He admitted softly.

"He's so small." She replied. "They don't want him there. When I told them all of the information about magic and magical children, they suddenly started asking when I was going to take the abomination out of their house! They believe he could be some sort of devil-child from the sound of it, instead of believing the truth. He's treated as if he was squib in the house of proud purebloods, worse in fact." She finished with a sad sigh.

"You know very well that there isn't anything such as social services in the Wizarding world. His situation is going to have to be dealt with in the Muggle way."

"They'll send him to an orphanage." She said softly.

"Well," Severus began, "From what you've said, anything will be better than that place. And what other option is there? And anyway, whether it's an orphanage or those dreadful parents of his, he'll have a more adequate life once he gets to Hogwarts."

"An adequate life?" Hermione scoffed. "Severus, are you listening to yourself? He's just a baby! Don't you think he deserves better than an adequate life?"

"Well, what do you want me to say, Hermione? You can't save every abandoned child in the world and you know it!"

"We could adopt him." She muttered softly, her voice barely louder than a whisper.

Severus automatically tensed. He had believed for his entire life that he would never have children, something that was assured when Hermione realized that she would never be able to bear children. They had mutually agreed upon it anyway, though, knowing that Severus was not made of, or at least didn't feel, like father material. Children, and adults, disliked him most of the time or were simply indifferent, so this turn of conversation caught him completely off guard.

"Severus," Hermione began again, "I know that you see it as just another case of charity, but it's different. This doesn't feel like just another child or case that I've worked on. This feels different. I feel as though my mind and heart are – are suffocating. I've never felt like this before about anything. So, maybe you could just think about it, okay?" she finished, and her eyes twinkling slightly with love and tears, she kissed him lightly before rolling over and trying to sleep.

Severus could barely sleep that night, as he knew that whatever decision he made would change his relationship with Hermione completely. He had a strong will, however, and knew that he would not agree with her just to please her. He knew that both she and the child deserved total commitment from him and he wasn't certain if he could give that. To Hermione, yes, but to a child? Not to mention, would the boy be treated fairly, living with a man who was still looked upon as a murderer? Could he do that to the boy? Perhaps it would help now, but in the long run? He would always feel like a murderer. Did he really want to do that to a child? Could he be a suitable father? A father... A son... words outside of him in so many ways. Severus tried to sleep, hoping things might be clearer in the morning, and at last he did, but the sleep was filled with odd dreams, dreams of small, sticky children sucking their thumbs.

….

The next day Severus took some time to consider and Hermione didn't press him any more. She went to work early in the morning. She managed her daily routine. He was very preoccupied with the question she had posed to him the night before. After almost slicing off a finger while preparing a simple potion, he decided that it was best to move that mental discussion to a safer environment, the last thing he needed was to made a cauldron explode at his age. He went out a little to get fresh air and smoke a cigarette. While lighting it and bringing it to his lips, another revelation hit him - no doubt smoking was something extremely wrong to do around a child. His wife hated the habit but she allowed it as long as he did it outside the house and freshened his breath before trying to make any romantic moves. But a child? Severus was not an idiot. He knew that smoking was harmful to his health and that of those around him, but it was one of the only things that helped his mind get away from the horrors of his past, his miserable adolescence, his anxiety. It was not healthy, he knew it, but it helped to cope with many things.

Sighing, Severus decided to leave the house and walk to a small local bookstore. It was only a short walk and it was not particularly strange that a couple like them lived near one, after all they went there at least three times a week. Severus loved the place, what with its smell of books and paper and ink. It always seemed to help calm his nerves. Opening the door, he nodded to the clerk at the nearby desk, then moved off throughout the shelves. Almost unknowingly, he ended up in a section he had never noticed before: "Childcare." Frowning at the brightly colored books, Severus picked one up gingerly. The title read "Caring for a Little Miracle: A Guide for First-Time Parents." Snorting at the ridiculous name, Severus flicked through the pages, looking up every now and then to make sure no one was watching him or passing by the aisle. He did not at all want to be caught in this section of the store, let alone by anyone who knew him.

After flicking through it, Severus took it and dropped it on the counter in front of the clerk. The man's eyes widened, surprised at the book his most frequent customer was buying. Luckily for him, though, he noticed the frown on Severus' face and didn't say a word about the book.

He quickly returned home with long strides and a determined expression. When he reached his home, he moved to sit on his favorite reading chair, cracked open the book, and started absorbing all the information it contained.

…

When Hermione returned home that afternoon, she couldn't find Severus for a few moments. He wasn't in his chair by the fire, or in his laboratory, or anywhere else that she noticed. Throwing her bag and jacket onto the table, Hermione frowned in curiosity, wondering where her husband could be.

"You know that if there was a toddler in this house, you wouldn't be able to do things like that, right?" said a voice from the hall. Hermione was startled, her handing reaching for her wand instinctively, an old habit that had never left her despite the end of the war. Wandering into the hall, Hermione was surprised to see Severus kneeling on the floor, placing some type of protective covering over the electrical outlet. "He could swallow the keys or something like that and it would be terribly annoying to have to explain that type of situation to someone at St. Mungo's." Severus continued.

Hermione was silent for a moment, wondering what her husband was on about. She watched him continue to work before moving around the house. She noticed that her husband had already put coverings on most of the outlets in the entire house. Hermione wasn't bothered, however, for they didn't use them, despite living a moderately Muggle life.

"We'll have to get in touch with a good Muggle lawyer as soon as possible." Severus said, coming towards her as she stood in the kitchen. "We'll also have to furnish the rooms so that they're comfortable enough for a child to live in. Perhaps some new coats of paint, make sure the stairs aren't squeaky or rotten, and perhaps buy some newer furniture." Severus stood in front her, a small smile gracing his sallow face. "Well, what do you say? Should we be parents?"

…..

Hermione stood in shock for another few moments, before smiling broadly and leaping into her husband's arms, whispering a thousand times over how much she loved him.

They were in the lawyer's office for the tenth time that month, and both Hermione and Severus were growing tired of the process. Luckily, it was almost complete. At first, it had been tedious, but the the progenitors (since they both flatly refused to call them his parents) had agreed very quickly to sign the adoption papers. Hermione had been disgusted at how eagerly they agreed. The couple had seemed glad, in fact, to be rid of the "monster". Hermione and Severus, however, had spent the month in a happy sort of bliss. They spent the days remodelling their home, making it fit for a little child to live in and be happy in. Many social workers visited, wanting to make sure that it was a suitable environment to raise a child in. Severus had been extremely annoyed when Hermione told him that he would have to hide everything magical in order for the Muggle workers to visit, but he grudgingly agreed and moved everything to one spot, casting a disillusionment charm over the lot of it.

And it had taken a lot of convincing on the judge's part, but they were able to get the boy moved out of his old home and into a provisional home while the paperwork was concluded.

"The necessary paperwork is complete." the lawyer explained now. "We can now move on to the next stage of the process." Severus was annoyed with the way the man spoke, for it was as if he was discussing the weather or something equally boring. "There are a few loose ends, however, but they shouldn't be too bothersome. You will technically be the temporary guardians for the child until the adoption process in eventually complete. The couple has signed a total waiver of their rights over the child with only a few conditions –"

"Conditions?" Severus said, annoyed. He had been silent for the majority of the meeting but this revelation was completely irritating to him. "They ignored and neglected him, yet they're still allowed to stipulate conditions?"

"Mr. Snape," the lawyer began, "Please, you understand that in the legal field, the opinions of the biological parents take priority. That's just how the law works. They're easy conditions to follow though, I assure you. They're in the long term best interests of the child."

"What do the Dixons want?" Hermione asked, placing a hand on Severus' arm to calm him down.

"They don't want the child to be in contact now or ever again in the future –" the man began.

"As if we'd ever let them near him again." Severus murmured sarcastically to Hermione. She hummed in agreement.

"They also want you to completely change the boy's name. They don't want him to share a name with them anymore, and apparently Mr. Dixon wants to "save the name" for a suitable heir."

"They want us to change him full name?" Hermione asked, slightly shocked.

"See it as an opportunity, Mrs. Snape," the lawyer said. "You'll be able to name him yourselves now and, considering how young he is and the fact that according to the case file the child had little contact with the parents, there is a possibility that the boy does not even know his own name or it might even have some type of negative connotation for him so there's a good chance it won't bother the little boy. It will be an entirely new beginning for him. Tomorrow, the official papers will be delivered and you can sign them. Choose a new name and sign that as well and we'll get you a birth certificate for the child."

….

The couple returned home that evening in an ecstatic trance. They toured every corner of the house to make sure that everything was in the proper order, everything small hidden away from small hands, kitchen cabinets and drawers locked tightly, as well as the door to the laboratory locked securely with both the Muggle and Magic ways.

The pale green room, of course, with a small bed with dragon sheets that were animated so that they moved around the bed was for the boy. There was a closet that Hermione had filled with small clothes for him as well as shoes, socks, and diapers. So many diapers in fact that Severus was scared. A shelf full of children's books sat next to the bed and a small chest of toys sat at the foot of the bed. They had also bought him a spectacularly cute little outfit that they could bring him home in.

"Aidan," Severus said suddenly as they looked at the room, arms around each other.

"What?" Hermione replied, not understanding.

"It means "little burning fire" and I think it would be a good name for him," Severus explained with a small smile. "If it's okay with you, of course."

"Aidan Snape." Hermione said thoughtfully. "It sounds beautiful." She replied, smiling back at her husband. "And since you chose the first name, I will hear no objections to naming him Aidan Severus Snape, after his amazing father." Severus smiled at her. "Aidan Severus Snape." Hermione repeated thoughtfully. "Our child."

**How was this little story? It has chased me for days and I just had to translate it so I could sleep peacefully tonight. I have several stories that accompany it already with little Aidan living with them and them dealing with the adventure of being parents. If you are interested in reading them, leave it in a review and I will continue with this little plot that has caught me since I started reading fics for this ship.**

**What do you think? I do not know the adoption laws in the United Kingdom so any mistakes regarding the procedures or lapses were unintentional. I tried to make that part as vague as possible.**

**PS: Any grammar mistakes were made unintentionally so I apologize in advance. I have dyslexia and I am still learning English.**


	2. Chapter 2

**I don't own Harry Potter, I just like to entertain myself a bit with its wonderful characters. I am not a native English speaker, so I am sorry for any mistakes in the translation as this is a story originally in Spanish.**

**Special thanks to NinjaDevil2000 and Number1Penguin for betaing this chapter, thanks for your wonderful work.**

**THE BEST FATHER.**

That morning, Severus woke up very early and was extremely nervous. While washing his face, he noticed that his hands were shaking and when he went downstairs to make breakfast, he felt a stitch in his stomach. The sun had not yet risen completely, but he didn't much care as he was no longer sleepy. Deciding that his insides wouldn't be able to take much more of the constant jittering, he decided that his stomach would not endure more than a coffee so he carefully prepared it, trying to stop the trembling and anxiety that consumed him from making him pour all the hot drink on himself.

When he had finished with his coffee, he double checked, making sure that everything was clean and in its proper place. He opened the refrigerator for the fourth time in the last twelve hours, making sure that they had milk and everything else necessary for a young growing boy. He checked again on the knife drawers, making certain that everything was out of reach and put away; he checked on the forks in the lower drawers, wondering whether they could be dangerous. They're not sharp or anything, are they? Wait, they are pointed though, that could be risky? Suddenly, he was being eaten away by images of a child harming himself with a fork, Aidan pricking his eye or stabbing his finger. Unable to chase away the thoughts, Severus eventually moved all the forks to a higher shelf, out of reach. Looking around the kitchen again, his eyes landed on a jar of small measuring spoons. Wondering if the child would be able to harm himself in some way with those, Severus soon realized that he was being ridiculous and closed all the cabinets and drawers again.

Hermione hadn't managed to get to sleep the night before until very late, for she had been both excited and stressed. And so the screams and shouts of her anguished husband were not something that she wanted to hear that morning.

"Hermione!" exclaimed a frantic Severus. "We need a crib! By Merlin, why haven't we bought a bed yet? Babies go in cribs! Everyone knows that! Now he's going to fall and it'll all be my fault."

"For God's sake, Severus!" Hermione said, her eyes still closed. She opened them blearily and peered next to her at the clock. "It's six in the morning! Come back to bed or at least find somewhere else to be neurotic!"

"Yes, this is I, Severus, the neurotic! See if you still think that when our son breaks his skull by falling from that infernal bed he has now!" Severus answered back indignantly, irritated that he wasn't being taken seriously.

Hermione sighed inwardly, aware that she was fighting a losing battle in her effort to continue sleeping. She sat up in bed and faced her husband who was staring at her.

"First off, the bed isn't high enough for something like that to happen. The last time I checked, it was only a few centimeters off the floor." Severus made to interrupt her, but Hermione held up a hand, silencing him before he even began. "Second, as you well know, since you installed that bed, it has railings on the sides so that he can't fall. And thirdly, he's almost two years old so he's the perfect size and age to be perfectly safe in using the bed. Now stop worrying and go occupy your mind with something else while I try to get some more sleep. We probably won't get much tonight since it'll be our first night with Aidan."

"The railings, I – I need to make sure that they're tight. That they're not loose anywhere," Severus replied distractedly, seemingly ignoring every word Hermione had spoken and rushing out of the room at top speed.

Hermione snorted in frustration, but there a slight smile tugging at her lips, showing how proud she was of her husband. She had never imagined that the idea of parenthood would make them so happy, if not a little crazy as well. It was something that they thought their relationship would never involve, since there was a limited amount of cruciatus that a body could take before being unable to procreate. Unfortunately both of them had had enough of this curse in the war that they had known their mutual infertility forever, so that the idea was never on the table.

But then, her position as Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts caused her to occasionally visit homes of Muggle-born children, from the first signs of accidental magic until the time of their schooling, due to the reforms she had personally promoted in the search for adequate induction to magic and equity of knowledge for this population. She never expected to find this boy, abandoned and without hugs, on the list of future wizards, and much less did she hope he would reshape their lives and make them begin to think of adoption as an option. This incredibly bureaucratic process was an uphill struggle but wonderfully rewarding.

And today they would finally bring their child home.

….

Now, here they were, in front of the building Aidan had been staying in for the past month. They knocked on the door, necessary documents in Severus' hands, and a small backpack and stuffed animal in Hermione's. They both fidgeted, but they were more excited than either had been in their entire lives. Eventually, their knock was answered by an elderly woman with a scarf wrapped around her head and an apron wrapped around her frame that made Severus wrinkle his nose.

"Can I help you?" The woman said quickly, not paying them much attention as her eyes were directed somewhere inside the house.

"Yes, you see, we're the Snapes and we've –" Hermione began.

"Curtis, Dylan, get out of there now!" The woman shouted suddenly, interrupting Hermione. "Excuse me, but I must attend to this. Come in, come in," she said, waving them in urgently.

The couple moved inside quickly, looking around the old-fashioned house that smelled strongly of disinfectant. It seemed that the place was piled high with every type of object. The first sight that caught Severus' and Hermione's eyes were two children who were standing on a table throwing what was presumably their dinner at two smaller children, who were both yelling as if the world was ending.

Taking each boy by the arm, the old woman grabbed the children and put them back on the floor, shouting at them about how indecent their actions had been and about how she never wanted to see them doing anything of the sort again. She then sent each boy to a different corner of the room. The two other little children finally stopped crying and rubbed their eyes, still sniffing loudly.

"They're a little naughty from time to time, but we do the best we can, of course." The woman said by way of explanation as the little children finished their dinner in silence. "You came here for one of them, didn't you? I received a message from the social services department. A little boy, correct? He hasn't eaten yet, as he's in one of the last groups to be fed, and one of the messiest I might add."

Severus raised an eyebrow, doubting that there could be a bigger circus of indiscipline than the one he had just witnessed.

"Now, if you'll just wait a moment, we'll feed him quickly and –" the woman started, but Severus cut her off.

"That won't be necessary. We'll take care of it." He said, throwing an irritated look around at the surrounding children who were running around frantically, no idea of what punishment was.

"We have the documents here." Hermione said, handing the woman the thick folder that they had brought with them. The woman looked over the papers, flipping through the signatures and identification forms and at last the attached photo of the boy. She smiled.

"Of course, the Dixon boy. I'll find him, just wait one moment." She replied, handing them back the papers.

"He's a Snape now." Severus said with a frown. He didn't want their son being referred to by that name any more.

"Of course, dear." The woman replied with a motherly gesture, ignoring the man's irritation.

Turning around, she climbed a nearby staircase and it was at that moment that Severus' anxiety reached its highest peak. His knees were trembling and his hands were sweating. Hermione wasn't much better either. Her eyes were bright with unshed tears and she had her hand locked in a death grip on her husband's. Both had fought in the war, been tortured, experienced horrible situations and difficult times. But they had NEVER been so nervous in their life. They heard a cry. Was it him? Was he afraid? Hungry? Dreaming? They wanted to run to hold him in their arms, make sure he didn´t have a reason to cry anymore.

Wherever Aidan was on the upper floor, he felt miles away from where they were: that place in that little house, surrounded by little children, was where for the first time they felt their hearts warm as never before. They could swear that it had been an eternity when the sound of the child's crying came down the stairs. In the arms of the old woman Aidan sobbed softly with a pout on his lips and clear confusion in his brown eyes

"He just woke up from his nap." The woman explained with a smile. "This little man here has a serious case of an inverted schedule, something I'm sure you'll discover soon enough. Now would you like to hold him?" She asked.

Severus was stiff and wanted to snort, to say how stupid that question was. Of course they wanted to hold him! He was their son! But nothing came out of his mouth. He could only stand there and watch the little boy in the woman's arms. She was trying to hand Aidan to one of them, and Hermione eventually shook herself slightly and took Aidan from the woman's arms. She wrapped her arms around him as the tears fell from her eyes.

Aidan, a little scared and tearful, went into her arms without refusal, though maybe a little hesitation. He looked at the woman, and it seemed that his childish mind was working, figuring out who this woman was and why she looked familiar. Why was she crying? Had she been woken up from her nap too? Aidan paused in his sobs and extended a curious hand to the woman's face, poking her cheeks to inspect the curious liquid falling from the woman's eyes. After a small caress he decided that this strange thing should be tested and brought his small mouth to her cheek by sucking it. The woman smiled at Aidan and she took his hand in hers, and kissed it.

Severus smiled, something he had not done very often in his life, and then the tears came. But Severus felt no shame in them, that childish kiss to his wife made his heart swell and take away all the doubts he could have about fatherhood.

"Aidan, love. It's Mummy," Hermione said softly to the baby who was staring at her with both hands on her wet cheeks. "Welcome, darling. Oh, little one, you're so loved and wanted!" Hermione squeezed him tightly in her arms, kissing the sandy curls of hair on his head. After breathing in his sweet little smell for a moment, she turned to her husband who was watching them. "Have I been hogging you, Baby? I suppose I should let Daddy hug you, huh?"

And she put him carefully into Severus' arms, he had held him before of course, but this was the first time he had carried him as his son. He was never the most expressive of men - his talent with words was not precisely in lullabies or heartbreakingly sentimental statements - but there in his arms was the greatest miracle of his existence. Giving him a small kiss on the plump cheek he made him the silent promise of being the best father he could be for him.

…..

_**Do you want to read a preview of the next chapter? Let me know in a review and I'll send it to you.**_

**How are you? I have to confess that it was a bit difficult to write the part where they meet Aidan. I didn't want it to be too exaggerated or too simple, so I spent hours on the Internet watching videos of adoption stories. I hope you liked it.I still have plenty of things written with this plot, which I hope to publish soon.**

**Do you like it? Very cloying or simple? I would like to know your opinions about the chapter as they help me to better shape my way of writing.**

**PS: Any grammar mistakes were made unintentionally so I apologize in advance. I have dyslexia and I am still learning English.**


	3. Chapter 3

**I don't own Harry Potter, I just like to entertain myself a bit with its wonderful characters. I am not a native English speaker, so I am sorry for any mistakes in the translation as this is a story originally in Spanish.**

**Special thanks to NinjaDevil2000 and Number1Penguin for betaing this chapter, thanks for your wonderful work.**

**THE FIRST DAY OF THE REST OF THEIR LIVES**

The inopportune ringing made Severus and Hermione both jump awake. After the initial shock, they both looked down at the other, smaller occupant of the bed who lay between them. Luckily for them, he was still asleep, and no one would have believed that the boy, calm as can be at the moment, had kept them awake almost all of last night. Taking deep breaths, Severus and Hermione got out of bed just as the annoying doorbell rang again. This time, Aidan squirmed a little, opening his little eyes. Hermione quickly moved to his side and started to make cooing sounds, caressing his back so the boy could fall asleep, while Severus ran to the door, extremely irritated with whoever was ringing the blasted bell.

Even - Still in his sleepwear, hair splayed out in all directions, Severus opened the door with a murderous mood on his face, only to find Potter smiling like an idiot, carrying a large blue balloon.

" Potter! –" Severus said as low but still intimidating as possible.

"Good morning, Severus. How are you?" Harry said, entering with a big smile, a little surprised too at the fact that Snape, of all people, had come to the door so dishevelled. "I came to see my godson. I brought him a gift."

"Why did you come so early in the morning,Potter?" Severus said indignantly. "The hellish doorbell almost woke him up. And he slept hardly at at all last night and for that matter, neither did we. It was quite impolite to come at this time," he finished, grumpier than usual doe - due to lack of sleep.

"Early in the morning!" Harry said incredulously. "Severus, it's almost noon!" Harry replied giving him an incredulous look.

"Anyways, you must leave or he'll wake –" but Severus was suddenly cut off by the babbling voice of Aidan coming down the stairs in his mother's arms. "I guess that doesn't matter now," he said, sighing.

Hermione appeared on the stairs suddenly, still in her pyjamas with tired eyes as she carried the bundle of energy in her arms who babbled with the his wavy hair almost covering his bright eyes.

"Harry! I didn't expect to see you so early! How are you and Ginny and the kids?" she said as cheerfully as she could. As she passed Severus, he kissed her, then climbed the stairs to get dressed.

"Early!" Harry said again. "You need to adjust your watch, Herms. Anyways, I came to meet my godson, of course," he said, approaching Hermione and the child. "And thanks for asking. All the kids are good. Ginny, though, she's dying to come over and hold this little one. The kids are happy to have a new cousin to play with too. Hello there," he said, looking at Aidan. "Hi, Aidan. I brought you a balloon."

Aidan was intrigued with - by the balloon Harry offered him, although he wasn't really sure what to do with it, so he just stared at the object floating near his face. He raised his arms, trying to touch it.

"He's a lovely boy, Hermione," Harry said, happy that his friend could finally experience motherhood after so much trial and tribulation. He had always sensed that being the "funny aunt" never felt quite right to her.

"Thanks, Harry. He really is wonderful," Hermione replied with a smile.

"Yes, indeed. Especially when he's awake nearly all night," Severus said, returning from upstairs, now just as immaculate as ever. Now, however, there was a spark in his eyes as he extended his arms to take Aidan from Hermione. Hermione smiled before going upstairs herself to change. Aidan went happily to Severus, now more intrigued by his father than the balloon.

"I never thought I'd see the day when the fearsome Severus Snape would hold a child," Harry said. "I clearly remember you refusing to carry my children."

"We can't live in the past, Potter," Severus said, cradling his son. "But all of your offspring drooling over everyone who got near them wasn't a great incentive."

"Can I hold him?" Harry asked hopefully. Severus, though a little doubtful, agreed and tried to put Aidan in Potter's arms. The boy, however, responded by clinging tightly onto Severus's shirt with an iron grip, vigorously refusing to leave the clutches of his father. Severus couldn't say he was disappointed though. In fact, he swelled with pride because he wasn't really ready to share his son with anyone other than his wife.

"I don't believe my son wants to be held by you, Potter. I'm sorry," Severus commented happily, tightening his grip around Aidan ever so slightly.

…

Later, sitting at the dining table together, Severus, Hermione, and Harry had their breakfast/lunch together. Aidan, sitting in his highchair near the table, gave them entertainment by continually trying to refuse the vegetables Hermione was offering him.

"So is he officially your son now?" Harry asked, grinning every so often as the boy in the highchair wrinkled his nose at the taste of the - a vegetable.

"Some papers are missing, but we have temporary custody. Once the new birth certificate is processed and he has his routine medical checkup though, he will legally be our son," Hermione said with a smile as Aidan grudgingly allowed some of the food to enter his mouth.

"That's great then. It means that soon we'll officially have a new Snape in the family," exclaimed Harry, taking a carrot from Aidan's plate and pretending that it was a moustache. He tried to make the boy laugh, but only got a tiny frown while the little boy played with his food. "Look, he even has your expressions, Severus."

Severus only snorted, eating his own food. His eyes were fixed on his son who had given up eating and was now using his food as if it was clay. Severus shrugged. As long as he didn't cry, he was okay with it for now.

"I guess he's not hungry anymore," Hermione sighed as she continued with her own meal. "The manners lesson will come at another time, okay, Aidan?"

Aidan who didn't talk much really, just nodded as he put his dirty hands in his hair, letting out a great childish laugh at his parents faced - faces which now filled with horror.

"I think it's safe to assume that bath time is approaching," Severus commented.

"Aidan is the same age as Artie," Harry said excitedly. "They'll go to Hogwarts at the same time. I'm sure they'll be housemates as well. True little Gryffindor, aren't you, Aidan?" Harry said happily, turning to the boy who was drawing everyone's attention with his antics.

The boy watched Harry carefully for a moment, then filled his small fist with food and threw it directly into Harry's face as he laughed his childish little cackle.

"Aidan!" Hermione exclaimed in shock as Aidan began to throw food in every direction.

Severus laughed. Not a small chuckle, but a full-out laugh. He would never forget the time that his son threw food directly into Potter's face.

"I guess that answers your question, doesn't it, Potter?" Severus said with another laugh.

…..

After saying goodbye to Harry, a thorough bath for the little troublemaker and a thorough cleaning of the kitchen, they were on the couch curled up watching Aidan play on the carpet with some bright blocks giving low squeals of joy from time to time, - . he - He was not particularly loud, but quite curious, so his stealth meant that he they had to constantly pay attention so he wouldn't get into trouble.

"He needs a haircut," Hermione said thoughtfully into her husband's chest. "It covers his eyes a bit. I bet it's annoying for him."

"It also might be easier to clean for when he next uses food as hair conditioner" Severus spoke with a smile.

"He doesn't speak much, does he?" Hermione said after a moment. "I mean, since we've taken him in, I haven't heard any more than babbling or occasional yes or no answers. Is that normal? I mean, he'll be two years old in three months."

"Maybe he's just getting used to us. I mean, he's only been with us for a day," Severus muttered into her hair. "It must be strange for him to be around people he's not very familiar with in an environment he's never seen before."

"I guess you're right. It's just a bit painful. I love him so much, you know, but only his eyes know us. Not his heart," she said, observing the child who was carefully stacking some of the blocks. "I feel almost as though I've always loved him."

As Aidan finished assembling his tower of blocks, he stood up on his little legs and kicked it down with all his might, laughing happily at the sight of the falling blocks. He turned to the adults who watched him, gesturing to the blocks with joy. Severus and Hermione smiled at him with love and gestures of approval. They knew that Aidan would soon grow to love them, just as they loved him.

….

"Very well, Aidan. You've eaten, had your diaper changed, and played all afternoon," Hermione said to the child, walking upstairs. "Now, you must be exhausted. I know I am, so I want you to be a good boy tonight and sleep for Mummy, okay? Are we in agreement?"

Aidan watched her dressed in his train pajamas - pyjamas, his eyes wide open with no sign of wanting to sleep yet.

"We're going to put you to bed, read a story, then sleep," continued Hermione, entering the child's room and putting the boy in his bed. "What story would you like to hear tonight?" she asked.

However, as Hermione spoke and looked through the books, slowly he slid off his small bed and ran through the door into the hallway with an - a speed quite impressive for someone who had learned to walk so recently. He was caught by his father though who had been walking to the boy's room at that moment.

"Looks like we have a little escapist here" he said as he lifted him up and saw Hermione leave the room in his search, while Aidan writhed in his arms looking for his long-awaited freedom away from the infamous bedtime "no doubt a cunning Slytherin future."

"He refuses to sleep. There is no way he can sit still for even a full minute," Hermione explained. "You just thwarted his third attempt. Maybe you were right. A crib may have been better. At least then he wouldn't be getting out as easily."

"The key word is easily" Severus replied without letting go of the boy who had stopped twisting and started inspecting the face of the one who was holding him "He is quite tenacious in his escape, probably he would have pulled - broken? a crib trying to get out, Aidan , that nice bed that you have can't be so horrible, right? It's very comfortable and everything" he spoke directly to the boy, watching him closely to what he responded by holding a hand to his (big) nose and squeezing it tightly. "very well, little human, hands out of my nose, it is quite rude to do that to people, they will think you have no manners" He finished with a surprising calm (no doubt any other child would have ended up screaming and scared after such a daring gesture), then he turned to his wife who was looking at him amusedly "he hates the bed" he declared towards her with a serious gesture.

After countless tales, two more attempts to escape, a little crying (not necessarily from the child) and a long lullaby ride around the house finally Aidan managed to sleep -his parents, while he rested quietly between them in the big bed and He played with his feet.

….

**Do you want to read a preview of the next chapter? Let me know in a review and I'll send it to you.**

**I would like to know your opinions about the chapter as they help me to better shape my way of writing.**

**Try to make your**** I tried to make their first day as a family as realistic and funny as possible. They are just beginning to meet Aidan who is really sweet but still a small and mischievous child, I have triplet cousins around Aidan's age and they are my main inspiration ****in for**** the character of the child. What was your favorite part of the chapter? What would you like to see soon?**

**PS: Any grammar mistakes were made unintentionally so I apologize in advance. I have dyslexia and I am still learning English.**


	4. Chapter 4

**I don't own Harry Potter, I just like to entertain myself a bit with its wonderful characters. I am not a native English speaker, so I am sorry for any mistakes in the translation as this is a story originally in Spanish.**

**Special thanks to NinjaDevil2000 and Number1Penguin for betaing this chapter, thanks for your wonderful work.**

**THE POTIONS LEARNER**.

Today, for the first time since Aidan had arrived at her home a month ago, Hermione was able to wake up in her husband's arms. The night before, they had let Aidan fall asleep in their room, but once asleep, they were able to manage moving him to his own room. Winning a battle like this that they had been fighting for weeks, felt so good. It felt even better to have woken up alone and in each other's arms. And, to make it even sweeter, just a couple days ago they had received Aidan's complete adoption papers, officially making them a family.

Aidan was still a quiet boy; he cried very little and the small moans he let out often reminded Severus of a mewling cat. He was growing incredibly fast, though still small for his age. Having spent the first year completely devoid of affection, he tended to hardly ever leave his parents' sides, very suspicious of strangers. Hermione used to joke that it was a trait he'd learned from Severus to which Severus snorted, merely commenting that his son had good judgement in not allowing himself to be passed around like a sack of potatoes.

His language development was delayed by the obvious lack of stimulation in his previous home. The Muggle doctor who was part of the procedures for adoption assured that he only needed to be told stories and songs constantly, and he even came to recommend that he watch television. Severus was horrified as he fervently refused to let any of his children be raised by that device which he referred to as the "brainwasher,"so he took the job of encouraging his son to speak more than monosyllables as a priority in his agenda.

Hermione certainly found it very sweet, watching her husband spend hours talking to the boy and reading him stories. They had also begun to refer to themselves in the third person around Aidan. At first, it was strange and a bit ridiculous. However, countless books Hermione and Severus had both read recommended it as a good stimulator, so the two parents thought it was worth a try. And now, it was common to hear each other say things like, "Aidan, eat a little bit for Mum," or "Aidan, do not throw food at Daddy."

Summer vacations were about to end and Hermione was well aware that she would soon need to report to her office before term started. She would need to organize class schedules, her classroom, and put together a new curriculum, all of which she should've done by now. She hadn't been away from her son for near this long before, so she was stressed, worried, and saddened by the realization. Once classes started, she knew she wouldn't be seeing him for long hours of the day. She wondered if her heart might break.

Now, turning over in bed to face her husband, Hermione began to lay delicate kisses along her husband's frame, from his neck to his shoulder when the long scar from Nagini still rested. Hermione hated that scar, for it reminded her of what had almost happened to her husband, but it also made her proud, because it showed her what her husband had gone through and how he had prevailed. Severus was very reserved about that particular mark, and so, like the Dark Mark, it remained hidden at nearly all times, only ever exposed when the man was in loose nightshirts or undressed.

"Why the pleasant awakening?" he murmured sleepily, brushing her lips with his. "Not that I am complaining, of course."

"I have to go to Hogwarts," she replied, rubbing her nose against his jaw. "There are quite a few things I need to get situated before the students arrive."

"You're saying that you want me to be alone with the brat all day," Severus said, now more awake.

"You know I don't like it when you call him that," Hermione replied with a frown. She rested her chin against his chest. "It wouldn't be all day, of course. I'll try to come back after lunch."

"So I'll have to go through the mealtimes, which triggers bath time, on my own?" he argued, arms still around her.

"He doesn't always throw food around; only when he doesn't like it," she replied back, feigning anger. "And it will be good practice for when classes start back up, as you'll be spending most of the days alone with him. Unless, of course, if you would prefer otherwise, and you perhaps preferred someone else to take care of him while –"

"My son will not be raised by a babysitter," Severus cut in indignantly. "I'll take care of him; some arrangements will have to be made in the lab, but I can take care of him during the day. Today, though, I have some errands to run in Diagon Alley. I wasn't prepared to take care of him today."

"Well, I can't take him with me," Hermione began. "He's too small to apparate and I'd prefer not to travel by the Floo with him yet either. It's not exactly a pleasant experience, even more if you do not understand its purpose" she continued, speaking into the hollow of his neck. "I also don't think Hogwarts is a very safe place for toddlers."

"Yes, who knows. He could bump into a Troll or a three-headed dog," Severus commented sarcastically.

"Don't say that," Hermione chastised gently. "My baby won't get anywhere near creatures like that," she hissed.

"Not for another ten years at least," he replied mockingly, but still slightly relieved that he would be able to protect his son twenty-four hours a day for at least a few years to come while still having him under his roof. The horrors he and his wife had gone through were too terrible to forget, even more so when you had a child you were constantly scared for.

"Severus," Hermione began. "You're changing the subject, and for the record, I am the deputy headmistress; I'll make sure nothing like what I went through, no creatures like that are anywhere close to the school."

"I know, love," Severus replied, kissing her reassuringly. "You know that I consider you perfectly capable. I'll take Aidan with me today; maybe it's a good time for him to be properly introduced to the world of potions."

"You know," Hermione said, lowering her voice. "He probably won't wake up for another couple hours or so," she muttered suggestively into his ear.

Severus let out a little growl as he pulled his wife closer to his body.

…

A couple hours later, Severus awoke again to a rather strange sensation. He didn't consider himself particularly delicate, but when you are brought out of sleep by the feeling of having all the hair from your chest ripped away, it can at least be considered disconcerting. He opened his perplexed eyes to find himself face to face with his son who was currently enjoying torturing him, the bright eyes filled with mischief.

"Enough, little rascal," he said bluntly after a particularly painful tug by his son. Severus reached up and gently removed his son's hands from his chest, the boy laughing at his father's words. "Good morning to you, little man. I suppose your presence here in your parents' bed suggests that your mother has gone," he continued, sitting up and kissing his son's head affectionately. "Today, you and I are going to go out for a little bit; I am sure there will be an uproar, as there are many gossiping people around the Magical world. I'm sure many people will find it extremely strange to see "the dungeon bat" with a baby, someone might even have a heart attack," he said, expressing his amusement at the idea with a small chuckle. He stood up, the boy in his arms. "But now, before the commotion, how about we eat some breakfast, okay? And maybe this morning, you keep the mess to a minimum," he remarked with a smile, all the whole knowing that the request was in vain.

….

Severus was walking through Diagon Alley. It had been an extremely hilarious moment when he passed through the Leaky Cauldron wearing his usual mask for social situations and with his suit now reserved for moments like this: black, nothing out of the ordinary except the little boy with long messy curls. that he had in his arms expertly ... he would have sworn that time around him stopped as he walked quickly but proudly at the same time as the eyes of everyone present were undoubtedly bewildered. Luckily, no one was foolish enough to approach.

He had to go to the apothecary first, to choose his Potion ingredients. Some sent assistants to pick up the ingredients, but Severus preferred to pick them out personally. Once he was finished there, Severus intended to head towards Gringotts, thinking about the appointment he had put off so many times. Now, however, since he had a son, he figured it was finally time to go and write a will, which would appoint Aidan as heir to nearly everything, and arrange the corresponding documents.

Now, standing in the middle of the apothecary, Severus knew that it was only a matter of time before he ran into someone brave enough to seek conversation about the boy on his hip. This was the main reason his contact with the magical world had been quite limited over the last weeks, consisting of only quick transactions. Society had labeled him as either "The Hero," or "The Traitor," and it was quite biased and quite annoying. he did not want to expose Aidan to any part of that facet of his life even though he knew that a conversation about his past was necessary, he wouldn't have to think about it in a few more years. Aidan's movements brought Severus out of his thoughts. The boy was wriggling in his arms, wanting to be set down so he could walk around. However, Severus figured an apothecary filled with dozens of glass jars wasn't the safest place for a young child to walk around.

"Let's stop that for now, alright, Aidan?" he asked the little boy quietly, not wanting to attract too much attention. "Now, if you stay on your best behavior, I'll let you explore a little of the next store, alright?"

Aidan, who understood much more than his parents knew, stopped squirming and smiled at his father, pointing a finger at a jar full of eyes that floated in a viscous liquid. Severus was pleased to see that the boy wasn't at all intimidated by the things around him, things other people may have been unnerved by. Severus proceeded to walk around the shop, pointing out things and naming them to his son. He was pleased to see a constant small smile on the boy's face.

The visit to the apothecary passed quietly enough, as the shop had been nearly empty except for the wizened old, nearly blind clerk. Now, Severus proceeded down the lane to Gringotts. He wasn't sure how Aidan might react to the goblins but he hoped he wouldn't be scared, hopefully maybe just unnerved if anything. He didn't want to deal with an anguished child the rest of the trip if he was indeed scared by the goblins. In addition, he also hoped that the goblins would be tolerant of toddlers. He decided to enter slowly, giving his son time to take in everything around him. Severus was pleased to see that Aidan seemed quite unphased as he and his father walked towards one of the desks.

"Master Snape," the goblin greeted with a nod, looking doubtfully at the boy in his client's arms. "Do you need to make a withdrawal from your account?"

"Klaus," Severus responded politely as he lowered his son to the ground and took his hand to avoid any escape. "Actually, I've come here on different business. You see, I need to rewrite my will and other succession documents," he said, gesturing to Aidan. "I have come here to name my son here my legal heir. I hope this can be accomplished rather quickly.")

The goblin's eyebrows rose in surprise, but he easily regained his serious countenance.

("You understand that I will have to ask you some security questions," Severus continued as Klaus moved away from the desk.

"Of course, sir," Klaus replied. "Come, I will take you to one of our private rooms."

…..

He finished all the legal procedures, which proclaimed a new heir to the Snape family. Now, done with Gringotts, Severus once again took his son in his arms, not wanting to lose him in the crowd of Diagon Alley. And, not wanting to tempt his luck by running into anyone who would want to talk to him, Severus quickly left through the Muggle entrance, after transfiguring his clothes into a more appropriate dress. So now, in Muggle London, Severus walked a bit more relaxed than he had in Diagon Alley, and decided to take Aidan to a toy store, knowing that no one would recognize him here.

"Excellent behavior at the bank, Aidan," Severus said, congratulating his son but placing him the floor and stroking his hair. "It seems to me that a prize is in order."

The boy wasted no time in running to the nearest bookshelf to inspect everything within his line of sight. He may have been too young to know precisely what he was doing, but he knew that he could run a bit freer once out of his father's restrictive grasp.

After a moment of simply observing the happy child, Severus realized that he was becoming soft, and was pleasantly surprised that he didn't care.

….

"Very good, young man," Severus said, back at home now as both father and son sat on the couch. "Now, it's time for you and I to have a little man-to-man talk, Aidan Severus," he said, sitting in front of the boy. He frowned slightly, causing his son to laugh before trying to imitate his father's expression. It was rather difficult for him, however, and Severus found himself laughing at the adorable attempt.

At last, he composed himself and said, "There is no need for you to frown at me, young man. Now, firstly, your mother insisted that you take my name and, between you and me, it's best not to contradict her, so you will take my name. So you will be Severus too," he continued, as if having the unilateral conversation with his son was the most natural thing in the world.

"Now, let's talk about some serious issues. Number one: no more throwing food around while you eat. It is very rude; although I admit that seeing that piece of carrot on Potter's face was quite epic, but most of the time it is unacceptable. You make a mess, and then that means bath time as well as cleaning food off the walls. And if you continue foregoing basic hygiene measures, how do you think I'll convince your mother to let me take you to the lab to handle difficult ingredients?" Severus spoke, using larger words. He was convinced that, though it might take his son longer to learn, it would equip him with a larger vocabulary that he would take great pride in in future.

"Which brings us to the second point, my little apprentice," Severus continued. "It is necessary that you start talking more. And I am convinced that with the proper practice, you will soon be able to recite the main ingredients of most potions within four years. Obviously, for this you will need to begin talking more. You know I was a teacher in that castle for a while, a castle full of hollow heads, which is now where Mummy works. Now, though the incessant babble of voices was annoying to me then, I know that the babble from your lips will be quite welcome and exciting. So please, my littler Slytherin, hurry and speak to Daddy," he whispered finally to the little boy, who had been listening to his father's speech with rapt attention, his bright brown eyes fixed on his father.

Aidan moved a little on the couch, cutting the space between his father and him until he was right next to him, then extended his arms in a deliberate sign that he wanted to be put on his lap. Severus ignored him raising an eyebrow.

"What do you want, little manipulator? Those puppy eyes do not work with me; here we use words to express what we want." The child was not at all intimidated and continued to hold his arms up, opening and closing his small hands incessantly. "Aidan, come on, little dwarf, just a few words for Daddy?" Severus murmured. The boy in question, however, was growing annoyed and restless. Severus wondered if he was perhaps pushing him to hard.

"Alright, but understand that this will not be a regular occurrence. You will not spend your whole life using those puppy eyes to get what you –" but Severus couldn't finish the sentence.

"Up, Daddy."

The man was shocked for just a second before the euphoria took hold of him and he swung his son around in his arms, causing the boy to happily giggle.

"Of course, just as bossy as your mother,"Severus said as he hugged him tightly against his chest.

"My intelligent little man, not just a word but a phrase! Mummy will be so jealous," the normally stoic man murmured into his son's hair. He couldn't help but have tears of pride and happiness drip into those sand-colored curls. "I love you, my son."

And for the first time, Severus experienced that incredible feeling of unconditional love that comes when a son says your name. He was a complete man.

…**.**

**Do you want to read a preview of the next chapter? Let me know in a review and I'll send it to you.**

**I would like to know your opinions about the chapter as they help me to better shape my way of writing.**

**I hope my characters are not too out of character. What was your favorite part of the chapter? What would you like to see soon?**

**PS: Any grammar mistakes were made unintentionally so I apologize in advance. I have dyslexia and I am still learning English.**


	5. Chapter 5

**I don't own Harry Potter, I just like to entertain myself a bit with its wonderful characters. I am not a native English speaker, so I am sorry for any mistakes in the translation as this is a story originally in Spanish.**

**Special thanks to NinjaDevil2000 and****PenguinofProse for**** betaing this chapter, thanks for your wonderful work.**

**THE POTTER FAMILY**

"You know very well that I don't feel comfortable with all the Potters in the house. Maybe when the little demons are older and have become somewhat decent human beings, then they can come over," Severus muttered from the couch, Aidan sitting on his lap as his father read to him.

"Don't talk that way," Hermione reprimanded from her nearby desk where she was reviewing lesson plans. "We don't want Aidan hearing and saying such things. And anyways, he needs to interact with children his own age, and Artie, Albus, and Jimmy are very eager to meet him."

"Do you really want our son to frolic with children who have names of a house-elf?" Severus replied sarcastically while Aidan slapped his cheek restlessly, wanting the story to continue.

Hermione sighed. "Listen, tomorrow will come, and Ginny and Harry will be here. They'll keep their kids under control."

"Of course, like last time," Severus grumbled, turning the page of Aidan's book and continuing on with his reading.

….

Artie Potter was an expert in biting. No one who knew him had escaped from one of his bites. And, ever since his teeth had started to come in, he was able to make his way between his brothers with his teeth, quite literally. He was only two years old, but he was quite big with predominant Weasley genes he looked like his uncle Ron. He was one of those children who are only cute when they're sleeping.

Aidan really wasn't the most sociable child. He could spend hours playing quietly with his blocks, and now, this Artie boy was being very upsetting. Aidan loved to build large towers of blocks and then tear them down. However, the other boy would let Aidan finish his tower before knocking it down. Aidan suddenly stood up, his small legs having grown quite strong, and shouted a loud, "No! Mine!" He bent down and picked up some large blocks, hugging them to his chest to keep them out of reach of the other child.

Artie, the youngest in the family, not accustomed to ever receiving no for an answer, tried to pull one of the blocks from Aidan's hand while crying loudly.

This was the scene Hermione found when she went to check on the children in the room. Her son continued to repeat, "Mine, mine, mine," as her nephew started to pull the blocks away with unintelligible, but clearly frustrated screams.

She turned back to the kitchen momentarily where Harry and Ginny were quietly talking with a tearful Alby Potter who was begging for a biscuit.

Turning back, Hermione quickly approached the children and separated them, holding each by an arm.

"Children, that is enough," she said, looking at them both carefully. Her son had bright eyes which looked on the edge of tears, and Artie had a face red with tear tracks already running across it. "There are enough blocks for the both of you. Aidan, you must learn to share. Artie came to play with you."

Aidan, though still with a small pout, extended a small arm with a block in his hand in the direction of Artie, though clearly reluctant. Artie, though, already quite annoyed, didn't have much desire to play anymore and with a quick movement, bit Aidan on the arm.

Aidan, who up until now had maintained his composure (as much as a two year old child could) screamed in pain and began to cry heavily.

….

Severus decided to sneak out of the meeting for a while. Now, he was sitting at his desk in the lab, reviewing some order forms and statements. Since he'd been down in the den, he had had to listen to the frequent screams, shrieks, and constant crying. He became aware of how loud the Potter children were, but after a few minutes he was able to tune out the sound.

However, the crying he'd been able to somewhat ignore for the past few minutes, suddenly grew louder and was entirely distracting. It was much louder than the occasional noises he'd heard and he knew that this time, it wasn't a Potter child, it was his son.

Alarmed by the safety of Aidan, he ran up the basement stairs, forgetting to shut the laboratory door. He went directly to the sitting room, entering just at the moment when Aidan threw a building block at Artie Potter's head, a frazzled Hermione trying to keep them separated.

Severus was shocked by the violent gesture that wasn't characteristic of his son. He quickly approached, looking for some kind of explanation. But then, he saw red on the skin of his son's arm where the indents of the Potter brat's teeth were clearly marked.

"Aidan –" Severus spoke, moderating his tone, trying not to scare the already emotional child.

The boy looked up slowly, his face furrowed with tears and sad expression. He quickly ran to his father and jumped into his arms, eyes blurred by tears.

Severus held his son close while he cried disconsolately into the hollow of his father's neck. Severus watched his wife who had found some ice in the freezer, applying it to Artie's head where a bump was beginning to form. Ginny had come in, hearing the commotion, and picked her son up, holding the ice onto her son's head. Artie was writhing in tears, his mother's arms holding him tight, trying to calm him down. Hermione approached her husband and son in a corner of the living room, gently running her hand over his back to reassure his little baby.

"Aidan, love," she said calmly, close to her son's ear. "You shouldn't throw things at Artie, baby. I know he shouldn't have bitten you, but we've talked about this before, Aidan. Throwing things is not right."

Aidan pulled his head from his father's neck and looked at his parents, his eyes still red.

"Daddy, Daddy," the boy muttered softly, pointing a finger at his wounded arm.

Severus quickly summoned two different bottles from his warehouse which flew to his hand. He gestured for Harry, standing near Ginny, to come closer.

"Potter, it would be appreciated if, next time, Arthur keeps his teeth to himself," Severus said rather coldly. His hand tightened around the bottle in his hand. A potion for a child's bruises. "Aidan is not aggressive, but he won't remain calm if someone hurts him."

Harry nodded, knowing the mania of his youngest son. Alby and Jimmy had also suffered a good deal of bites, and he and his wife had hoped it was only a stage. Harry approached Artie and proceeded to rub a thick substance onto his son's forehead.

"Now, little one, this will burn a little but it will make it stop hurting, okay?" Severus said, holding his son with one arm and passing a bottle to Hermione with the other. "Mummy will put it on and make you feel better, alright?"

Aidan merely nodded and let the ointment go on, calm as could be, obviously exhausted from the situation; he didn't have much energy to spare for complaints.

….

Alby Potter was the nightmare of anyone who enjoyed order. He had four solid years under his belt of nothing but disobedience, crying uncontrollably when not given his way, and tantrums. He would scratch and hit people who took him away from something, he seeked attention and control over all the Potter children. Therefore, he happened to be the one that Severus wanted to put a permanent silencing spell on the most.

Taking advantage of the uproar caused by his younger brother, Alby decided that he would have those cookies that his parents had odiously denied him. He grabbed at the plate and grabbed a handful, dodging quickly under the table, eating them quickly and smiling broadly.

After eating as many cookies as possible, he decided that he was very bored and so went out to explore a little. In the kitchen was Teddy, playing on his video game. Teddy never lent it to Alby, and that bothered the little boy a little. He thought of himself as already being a big boy. His dad had promised him that if he was also a good boy, he would buy him a video game as well, but sadly, Alby knew that his birthday wasn't for quite a while yet. With a pout on his lips, bored and annoyed, Alby first noticed something on the table. It was a notebook or something similar. Padding over to it, he opened it and decided to grab a nearby pen. He knew his parents loved his drawings so he concluded that if he drew a very nice picture, maybe his parents would buy him a video game sooner.

Smiling at what a good idea it was, he started to draw. After a while, however, he thought the picture was too small. He knew it had to be a great big drawing to convince his parents to buy him the game, so he stopped drawing, calmly formulating a new plan.

….

Severus was very upset with Potter and his offspring at the moment for making him entertain them with this ridiculous meal. Aidan was still tied to him like a monkey, quietly playing with the buttons of his father's shirt, clearly drained by all the previous action. However, the youngest Potter child was obviously not phased at all by the events for he was jumping on the sofa like a trampoline as though nothing had happened at all.

His parents, once again oblivious to him, were talking to Hermione, holding a tense smile on her face, not tearing her eyes away from Artie jumping precariously on the couch.

Suddenly, a crash resonated through the house. It was the unmistakable sound of glass breaking. And it came from the basement. Severus was quickly reminded of his spectacular exit from the lab and the non-existent safety measure he left it with. Moving quickly and handing Aidan to Hermione, he quickly ran to the lab. And he knew that there could only be one explanation. The Potter children were at it again.

….

Jimmy Potter was an imp requiring careful supervision, six years of incredible foolishness had done nothing to make him more mature. With the tendency to see with his hands and the delicacy of a rhinoceros, he was the terror to glass objects, delicate objects, or family heirlooms. Often, he ran into them or broke them by accident. He like to "borrow" people's things frequently. He had big blue puppy eyes which earned him the indulgence of his parents, but when they visited the Snape home, Severus made sure to collect everything important out of reach of the boy. Sadly, though, it didn't always work.

Wandering downstairs, James found a door standing ajar. This place had always intrigued him because he was not here very often. When he did, however, he loved to explore all of the strange things he could. In all his explorations, this door had never been open. Always it had been tightly locked shut. One time, his hand had gotten burned while trying to open the door, as well as intimidated by the eyes of his creepy uncle. Today, however, the uncle in question was busy and distracted by his little brother. Jimmy knew the pain of his brother's bites, and he had to admit that he felt slightly sorry for the baby.

Going down the stairs, taking care not to make much noise, Jimmy arrived in what appeared to be a laboratory/office. There was even a children's pen in the corner like the one for Artie with small children's things inside it. That really didn't draw much attention though. No. What intrigued Jimmy were the many jars all along the nearby shelves. And, without fear of being discovered, Jimmy ran forward and tried to take one of the jars off the shelf. Not expecting it to be that heavy, though, as soon as it was free of the shelf, it slipped from Jimmy's hand and crashed onto the floor. Glass spun everywhere, making a dangerous and disgusting mixture of viscous liquid, hard shards of glass, and multiple, slimy eyes of a doubtful origin.

….

The first thing Severus found was obviously the open door of his lab. Cursing internally, he quickly proceeded into the room, the other adults behind him.

Fortunately, James was unharmed as of yet, though covered from head to toe in a sticky substance. His parents ran to him, casting diagnostic spells around him without considering, even for a moment, that the substances could be possibly volatile. Luckily, though, Severus had no volatile potions in the lab at that time.

Already losing patience and incredibly angry at the parents' passivity in not properly disciplining their children, he spoke with traces of the dread potions master.

"Enough! Please, withdraw from my laboratory and keep your offspring out of here. Reckless magic like that could've caused on explosion. And just so you know, that ingredient there was very valuable, Potter, and very difficult to acquire. You are being disrespectful of my work and my home and I hope to be reimbursed for all the trouble this has caused me and my wife."

Knowing the explosive temperament of Severus Snape, the Potters quickly retreated with an apology, dragging Jimmy along by the arm.

After everyone had returned upstairs and the disaster had been cleared away, Severus took a deep breath. It seemed that the situation was under control. Aidan was laying his mother's arms while she talked to Ginny and Harry who kept Artie who was (thank Merlin) asleep in his father's lap and Jimmy, who sat next to him. The elder boy bore a frown that screamed for hours that he was grounded.

….

Entering the room quietly and sitting on one of the chairs was Teddy. His appearance indicated that his video game had run out of battery and was now forced to socialize. He had been so engrossed in his game that he hadn't even realized the entire disaster that had happened in the living room and then the basement or disaster he left behind in the kitchen.

Teddy Lupin, adopted by the Potters when he was four years due to his grandmother's death, was the only Potter child that was half tolerable. Not always though. He was calm, at least as calm as a twelve year old could be - when visiting your Deputy headmistress you tended to maintain a medium decency level, . He could have conversations for hours about Quidditch and maintained a constant changing of hair color, giving the boy the appearance of a walking neon sign. Severus often developed migraines around him.

Aidan, curious to see someone with such strange hair, slid off his mother and walked cautiously to the curious stranger. When he was right in front of Teddy, the elder boy morphed his features into a funny look, making Aidan laugh. Having been around three young brothers, Teddy had picked up a few things on cheering them up.

The atmosphere was now much calmer with the Potter children now sleeping, punished and playing an excellent babysitter. Severus felt he could finally breathe a little easier and joined in the conversation every now and then. Hermione and Harry and Ginny were talking about children, constantly being glanced at by one of the parents.

"Have you thought of any more children?" Ginny asked with bright eyes. "Siblings are good for children I think." Severus snorted at that wild comment, though internally. What would do to those children good is more discipline, not siblings.

"It really isn't something we've thought about. Aidan deserves all our attention for the time being and for now I think it's more than enough. A new adoption process is somewhat tedious," Hermione replied, leaning into the side of her husband who summoned some glasses and a bottle of wine from the kitchen.

Being a person of impeccable manners, though reluctant to show them, Severus poured all the adults glasses before placing them down on the coffee table politely. After taking a sip of his and offering one to his wife, he gestured to the guests to take one while he took another sip.

"No thanks, Severus," Ginny commented. "We wanted to wait till the food to announce in but I'm actually pregnant!" she announced happily.

Severus choked on his drink as he suddenly had the image of another Potter in this world. Rolling her eyes at the drama of her husband, Hermione ran forward to hug her friends and congratulate them. While he was stealing Aidan's attention she'd been playing with some action figures so far with Teddy.

"We're really very happy," Harry said. "It may be a girl this time," he said excitedly.

"I'm hungry," Teddy suddenly spoke, staring accusingly at the adults as if the main point of the meeting had been forgotten. "When are we going to eat?"

Severus could only think of how bad it would be if Aidan's manners morphed into anything remotely like these children's.

"Let's go do that, honey," Hermione replied, standing up and directing everyone to the kitchen. But as they entered, she let out a loud exclamation

Severus suddenly knew what it was. They had left a Potter loose in the house without supervision. The children outnumbered them. Sighing, he approached, just to see another disaster.

He saw the great stain immediately. His white walls was now scratched with childish strokes. He knew that with the arrival of Aidan, childish pranks were inevitable, but this was not mischief. This was, frankly, vandalism. Alby Potter stood by the wall, smiling happily.

"Potter!"

…**.**

**Do you want to read a preview of the next chapter? Let me know in a review and I'll send it to you.**

**I know the delay has been abysmal but the truth is that the university has made me crazy all month, I try to make it as long and fun as possible again inspired by my own little cousins who look so much like the little Potter, I would like**** you to**** tell me that you would like to see more soon, you will have realized that it is a mostly happy story, so I like to capture happy moments, however I am open to ideas and suggestions. I have planned a plot that will be developed soon. The next chapter will have a small jump in the time that was necessary for the moment it was written. ****But ****don't worry Aidan ****will still be**** still a toddler.**

**PS: Any grammar mistakes were made unintentionally so I apologize in advance. I have dyslexia and I am still learning English**


	6. Chapter 6

**I don't own Harry Potter, I just like to entertain myself a bit with its wonderful characters. I am not a native English speaker, so I am sorry for any mistakes in the translation as this is a story originally in Spanish.**

**Special thanks to NinjaDevil2000 and ****Jetainia** ** for betaing this chapter, thanks for your wonderful work.**

**THE ADVENTURES OF SEVUS**

Hermione walked with little Aidan on her hip, with his half-asleep head tucked into the hollow of her neck while he sucked on his thumb. Severus had left very early in the morning as it was an ingredient gathering day due to the full moonlight.

"Sevy, baby, today we will come up with something special for dad," Hermione spoke in the ear of her fluffy-haired son. "Tomorrow is a day that in the muggle world we normally celebrate as Father's Day and we must do something special for that wonderful daddy that you have."

"Daddy?" Aidan said, raising his head and looking around.

Aidan had been with them for almost a year and although he deeply loved his mother—who was the only one who referred to him as Sevy—it was quite obvious that he was a daddy's boy. Severus was the first Aidan would run to when he got hurt or the one to turn to when he wanted some candy before dinner.

"Dad is working, love, remember? He went out very early to collect ingredients," she said as she put him in his high chair.

"Ingredients! For potions, Daddy makes potions," Aidan said with a nod. "I make them in my lab, too." He continued to refer to the small corner dedicated only to him in the large laboratory of Severus' where his children's potion kit was.

"Of course, my smart boy," Hermione replied, putting a bowl of cereal in front of him.

…

After breakfast Hermione changed her son, put his shoes on and took him by the hand, ready for a quick trip to the store.

"What should we buy for Dad, darling?" She asked Aidan as they walked down the street.

"Ingredients, Mum, so he wouldn't have to leave in the morning and he would play with me," he replied seriously. He had become more fluent when speaking each time.

"You don't like spending the morning with Mum?" said Hermione, pretending to pout "And I wanted to buy an ice cream for my dearest son."

"I'm your only son, Mum!" he answered logically. "I love you, Mum and Daddy, I want to be with both of you always," He expressed while hugging her leg. Of course Severus was 'daddy', while she was just 'mum' "I like cocholate ice cream hit with sprinkles."

"Chocolate, baby," his mother corrected him patiently as they entered a large department store.

"I said that!" he replied indignantly with a frown.

"Of course, my life," Hermione agreed, stroking his hair. "You are identical to your dad, you are never wrong!"

"Yes! I Sevus just like dad." Aidan smiled.

….

They searched for hours while Hermione did not get anything special enough for such an important day as it was the first Fathers Day, the store was full of generic gifts, colorful ties which even as a rag in the laboratory Severus would not wear, key chains and cards.

She managed to buy a few things for a special roast chicken dinner to which her husband was addicted, but nothing to deliver wrapped and Aidan was already getting impatient and wanting to be carried. In the end she bought a fancy frame where she planned to put a photo of Aidan in. It wasn't terribly unique but time was running out and she wanted to be home before Severus would arrive and suspect anything.

….

Aidan played with a small train in the living room while Hermione finished dinner, her husband had arrived in the middle of the afternoon completely exhausted and had done nothing but kiss his wife and son, take a shower and go to take a nap.

The little boy had orders not to wake his father, so he looked around the kitchen making sure that his mother was concentrating on what she was doing. He sneaked up as much as a small child could up the stairs. Walking down the hall, he quickly reached his parents' room, Dad lay on the bed with his mouth open. Aidan really wanted to spend time with him so he started tickling the soles of his dad's feet sticking out of bed. Severus just grunted a little and shuffled his feet. Frustrated, Aidan clambered onto the bed.

"Daddy?" He asked softly so that his mother would not hear him, while he tapped the man's cheeks."Wake up Dad, it's time to open your eyes ..."

Saying this, he began to open his father's eyelids, forcing him to wake up.

"Mmm." Severus abruptly woke up, moving his face away from the little brat's reach. "Aidan, Dad is tired..." he said, squeezing his eyes.

"It's not yet time to sleep daddy... You're old, your bedtime is after me..." Aidan expressed, riding on his father's torso and taking his breath. "You have to be awake to read me," the boy affirmed, putting a hand on each cheek and sticking his forehead to his father's.

"Aidan Severus! I told you not to wake your dad," Hermione scolded as she entered the room.

"He was awake!" The boy argued, raising his head. "Dad didn't want to be alone, right, Daddy? You had your eyes open right?" Aidan asked now, lying completely on his father, moving as if it were a bed and not a human body needing to breathe.

Severus just wrapped his arms around the little manipulator while shrugging. He couldn't be annoyed with his little one just because he wanted to spend time with him.

…

Aidan played in his room after dinner while his Dad had entered his laboratory to order and classify what he brought from his expedition of the day. His mother was at the door, watching him quietly.

He had a toy cauldron, a spoon and a teddy bear near him . He frowned slightly as he "waved" the imaginary mix.

"This needs slimy eyes..." he murmured, stroking his chin. "The color is not right, it is red like the sky..."

"_Sevus_!" Aidan exclaimed, seeing the bear that was resting next to him. "Daddy is working! This potion is very _volatile_ and can explode."

He picked up the bear and took it to a corner of the room where there was a small seat without realizing that his mother barely contained her laughter from the door.

"You are grounded! For a _long long_ time," he said, "sitting" the bear in the small chair. "Stay there and take time to think, Sevus."

After "grounding" his bear / son, he walked to the cauldron with his hands behind his back and then added small toys, a shoe, a ball and then mixed.

"It already has the correct _consistency_, see Sevus?" He said, raising the spoon with his "potion" to his obedient son, still punished. "This is cold, I'm going to keep it."

The boy looked for a small bottle of cream from his shelf, opened it and proceeded to simulate pouring the potion into the container.

He grabbed a crayon from the nearby toy chest and scribbled on the container. "Don't fool around with dad's pen, Sevus" the child scolded the bear with a frown again, "it's for work"

With great care he ended his day by putting the bottle on the shelf again. After that was done, he walked back to the bear.

"Done, Sevus," he said, taking it in his arms and giving it a kiss on the plush head. "I love you, so no more punishment. Be good."

…..

That memory in a small glass bottle, a portrait of Aidan holding "Sevus" and a really elaborate dinner was the way in which this little family celebrated Severus for the first time in the important role of father that he held.

…**..**

**Hello everyone, I know that the delay is long and the chapter is a little out of season but it was written a few months ago. The reason is that I started writing the chapter the days before Father's Day since I received an inspiration at the moment. I planned to mount it on Father's Day at night after absorbing the vibes of that day ... however my grandfather from all the days of the world passed away that day I have been very sad and the truth is that the day itself was impossible to write is still a bit difficult ... that's why the abrupt end.**

**I hope you are all safe and well, the only thing lucky about this situation that we live in worldwide I suppose is that I may publish more often wanting to lose myself between fics so any suggestion or opinion will be welcome. Aidan grew a bit from the previous chapter but it was necessary to fit the timeline…**


	7. A DAY OUT OF ORDINARY

**Team:** Wigtown Wanderers

**Position:** Seeker

**Round:** 11

**Prompt: **Out of the Ordinary

**Word Count:** 2733

**I am not a native English speaker, Any grammar mistakes were made unintentionally so I apologize in advance. I have dyslexia and I am still learning English.**

**Special thanks to my Wigtown Wanderers team for betaing this chapter.**

**A DAY OUT OF ORDINARY**

"It's time, he's almost three years old, Severus," Hermione said, tucked under her husband's arm on the couch.

"I know, but all the past attempts have been so unsuccessful and heartbreaking..." answered Severus with clear reluctance.

"He will never learn if we don't try," she continued. "He will arrive at Hogwarts wearing diapers, don't you want to save him from such a public humiliation?"

"No one will mess with Aidan," Severus growled, narrowing his eyes as he thought about his troubled years at Hogwarts. "Not with you as Deputy Headmistress; besides he still has a long time, he's still a baby."

"Well, your baby is going to preschool soon and needs to at least have started his training," Hermione refuted. "It's a requirement everywhere we have been."

"I'm not sure about that preschool either..."

"Severus we've talked about this already," she replied frustrated. "You need time to be able to focus on your potions during the day, without a child around distracting you."

"My son doesn't bother me."

"I know he doesn't, darling. You are a wonderful father to him," Hermione said in a conciliatory way as she gave him a small kiss on his pursed lips. "But Aidan is growing up and as much as we want him to remain a baby, he needs to interact with other children his age," she finished while staring at him with her hands on his cheeks. "Tomorrow, when I go to work, I will leave his big boy underwear for you, so you can put it on him, at least a few hours a day"

…

Severus had just said goodbye to his wife with a long kiss and was about to enjoy his morning coffee and read a book that had taken him a long time to finish when a sleepy voice called to him from the stairs.

"Daddy?" asked his son.

Sighing, he put the book aside and quickly drank the entirety of his coffee; there was no rest for parents apparently. He quickly climbed the stairs to find his boy sitting at the head of them in only his diaper and his dragon bedspread wrapped around him.

"Good morning, little one," Severus greeted as he took the child in his arms, gave him a kiss on the head and hugged him to his chest. "So now we take off our pajamas?"

Aidan just shrugged, still a bit sleepy, and rested his head into his father's neck, breathing in his reassuring scent. Severus walked down the hall to the bathroom with the boy still in his arms and sat him on the sink.

"Open your mouth," the man calmly ordered the boy. "We must eliminate that dragon's breath."

Aidan laughed, already waking up more, and opened his mouth. If he was fully awake he would probably insist a little to do it himself as a big boy, but in the morning he enjoyed being a baby a bit. After they finished brushing the boy's teeth, Severus washed his son's face and combed his long curly hair. He then took Aidan back to his room. Aidan wrinkled his face a little when he saw that the clothes that were on the chair of his activity table did not have a diaper.

"Daddy..." Aidan started.

"Well you're already a big boy, right?" his father cut him off before he could continue. "Big kids don't wear diapers."

"I don't like it," he replied a little grumpily, crossing his arms.

"Welcome to real life, son," Severus said, laughing a little. "We are not always going to be able to do things that we like, sometimes we will have to do things that we do not like but are necessary. Do you like these blue trousers?"

They were trying to give him a bit of freedom in terms of the clothes he wore so that he could learn a little independence—although from time to time he came out with combinations that made his father's eyes roll. They also tried to show the color of each thing so that they could be learned.

"No!" the boy answered with an annoyed face.

"Without raising your voice, young man, I'm not yelling at you," his father chided him. "Do you want to spend the morning in the thinking chair?"

"I'm sorry!" exclaimed the boy without removing the pout from his face "The one with snakes, Dad" He pointed to a pair of pajama bottoms in the closet. Severus accepted that. The lesson of sleepwear and for the day would be for another time—he was already a little stressed and it was not yet midmorning.

"Alright, you'll put on your big boy clothes and keep the snakes dry right?" He reminded the boy as he dressed him for the day, "If you want to go to the toilet you have to let me know." Aidan nodded absentmindedly.

They went downstairs to get some breakfast.

"Cookies, Dad?" Aidan asked when they got to the kitchen.

"That's not breakfast. Try again, saying please wouldn't hurt."

"Cereal? Please."

"That could be—" Severus cut off what he was saying suddenly when he saw a puddle around his son.

"Potty dad!"

Severus restrained a sigh. It was going to be a long day.

…..

The patio door was open. Aidan noticed it right away. His parents wouldn't let him go to the backyard unsupervised because there were silly plants he shouldn't touch. There were also pretty flowers. Suddenly Aidan remembered his mother liked flowers and since the door was open it might surprise her. Crawling like a lion with his sandy curls making an adorable mane from the living room to the door just for the pleasure of doing it he quietly left. His mother, who was reading on the couch, did not notice his stealthy exit.

Smiling, he stood up and enjoyed his freedom. He ran from one side to the other, imagining that he was a tiger. Then he turned in the same spot until he got dizzy and fell on his back laughing. When he saw the flowers that Dad planted for Mom, he ran towards them.

He held one from below the leaves and pulled it out by the roots, causing the pot to unbalance and fall over. Aidan was very surprised when he saw the roots of the flower, not even giving a second thought to the overturned pot.

He could not give this flower to his mother. She was not going to like it and she was going to get very sad, he assumed that the flower he had pulled was defective and grabbed another, pulling it out strongly. The same thing happened: the pot turned over spilling earth everywhere and the flower had roots. Frowning, he tried again, managing to turn at least eight pots. Always the same result. At this point his clothes, hair, and even his feet (inside the shoes ) were filled with dirt and the whole yard was covered in piles of dirt and discarded flowers.

Frustrated he lay down on the floor, getting even more dirty in the process somehow. The soil had been damp in the pots since they had been watered very recently, his whole body had a layer of mud covering it. After thinking a bit, he remembered that Dad used to remove the weird little things from the plants he picked with a funny little pair of garden scissors.

Grinning, he got up and went to the box in the patio—carrying his flowers— and opened the creaking door before entering the small storage room for garden instruments. He immediately found what he was looking for and held it roughly between his fingers; he cut the roots as carefully as possible. He found the sensation very funny when he was doing so and he remembered when Mom cut his hair with very similar scissors, they always cut it just enough so that the hair did not get tangled or fall in his eyes.

With curiosity and innocence he brought the scissors to his hair right next to his ear and cut a good lock on the ground which made him pick it up and hold it for a few moments. It was very fun and he happily proceeded to randomly cut several parts of his hair, leaving him with a very irregular hair style.

He got bored after a while and remembered the flowers. It was time to surprise Mom. Holding the "bouquet" that he had made, he ran back to the house.

"Mommy! Flowers for you," the boy yelled proudly, leaving mud in his wake as he raced over to his mother. He clambered onto the sofa and offered the flowers to his mom with a smile.

"Oh my God!" Hermione exclaimed, no doubt surprised. "Severus!"

…..

"You didn't close the door!"

"You didn't pay attention to him!"

"Because I assumed you would have closed the door!"

Aidan watched the conversation back and forth, a pout on his lips and his flowers still in his hand.

"Mommy! Flowers for you," he tried again.

His mother looked at him and sighed in exasperation, she really did not know whether to cry, laugh, punish him or hug him. Although seeing the state the child was in, it was probably best to at least postpone the latter until her son had had a bath. Severus was pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Aidan, you know you can't go to the patio alone," Hermione began, steadying herself. "What did you do to your hair, young man?"

"Mommy," Aidan said with watery eyes. His mother only called him Aidan when she was angry, didn't she love him anymore? "Nothing..." the boy answered her question while touching his hair.

"Aidan, I told you it's dangerous to go there, what if you got hurt?" added Severus. "There are very bad plants that eat naughty children."

Aidan's eyes widened in fear and he began to cry.

"Severus!" Hermione scolded her husband "It's not true love... They won't eat you, but they could make you sick and hurt you and you'd be in bed all day and you couldn't play."

"I'm sorry," Aidan said between sobs. "I wanted flowers for you, Mommy. You like flowers," he said, raising the small bouquet in his hands. Looking at her tenderly as if he hadn't left a mess behind him.

"Come here, little manipulator," answered Hermione, hugging the muddy child without making a face and taking the flowers. "They are beautiful baby, but you have to listen to us; it is for your own good. Dad and I just don't want you to hurt yourself."

"Daddy?" Aidan whispered, looking at him with apprehension and stretching a little arm towards him inviting him to a redeeming hug.

With a sigh Severus walked over and wrapped his arms around them both.

"You still have to sit for a while to think, Aidan Severus," his father commented while hugging them. "However, first the bathroom is in order, little mud monster, and you are going to explain to me what happened to your hair."

"What a lovely muddy family we are," Hermione said as they parted. "Don't move Sevy! You will make everything even more dirty. I'll get the tub ready."

When Aidan heard his mom calling him Sevy again, he smiled even though he had to sit in the stinky chair thinking at least he knew he was still loved and all was forgiven.

…..

Hermione was preparing the bathtub while Severus questioned Aidan about his hair; the damage really couldn't be seen well under so many layers of mud. But it seemed like it was insurmountable, his long hair would be very lucky if it didn't end up being completely shaved off.

"Alright, Sevy, take off your shoes here," Hermione said as she walked back.

Aidan obediently removed his shoes—although there really wasn't much difference as the soles of his feet were also covered in mud. Hermione, seeing that it was practically the same and noticing that there was no way to end this without her also needing a bath at the end, took her dirty son in her arms.

"I'm going to collect everything here and see what kind of disaster awaits us in the yard," Severus muttered.

Hermione took the little boy to the bathroom and began to undress him. She had serious doubts that the clothes he was wearing had any hope of salvation. She put the boy in the bathtub while she looked for soap and a good sponge to see if it would remove everything.

"Mommy, toys?" Aidan asked with what was left of the sheared bangs on his wet face.

"There are no toys for naughty boys, young man."

She began to rub the sponge all over the boy's body, who pouted and made a sad face. Removing dirt after unloading the bathtub several times, she decided that it was better to spray it with the shower, otherwise Aidan would end up covered in the dirt he had just lost. When cleaning the boy's hair she realized that his beautiful curly hair was almost completely gone. He had managed to cut his hair extremely short in some parts.

Severus walked in just then, looking as dirty as he was sure she was.

"The flowers are gone," he told her quietly as he ran his hand through his hair. "And there's a new shaggy rug in the tool room."

"I won't be able to fix this myself," Hermione replied pointing to what was left of her son's hair. "We will have to take him to a children's hair salon."

"If you wanted a new haircut so much, you just had to say so," the man said calmly to his son "I don't want you to touch the scissors again, understand Aidan? It's really dangerous."

"Yes, yes Daddy" Aidan cheerfully commented as he played with his fingers as if they were little people while his mother removed the dirt from his body.

….

Hermione put a hat on her son to avoid showing too much his "haircut." It was almost summer so it would probably make him a little warm but it would have to be that way while they took him to a hairdresser. The boy had passed a good ten minutes in his "thinking chair" while his parents got ready for this impromptu weekend outing.

They left the house, making sure to lock everything properly.

"Very well, Aidan, you must take Mom's hand or mine at all times, no escapes," ordered the father, knowing the tendencies of the little troublemaker. "We don't want you to get lost and you've been naughty enough all day."

"I'm sorry, Daddy!" replied the boy.

"No more apologies, just be on your best behavior," added his mom.

The three of them walked together while the boy took both their hands and from time to time he shot himself upwards, happily knowing that neither would let him fall. They came to a hairdresser where everyone was a bit horrified by what the boy had done to himself. When the hairdresser tried to pass the razor near him, he began to cry, fearing it would hurt and pulling his head away.

"It doesn't hurt my love, they'll just cut your hair," his mother consoled him.

"No, Mommy, no!" he cried. "I'm sorry!"

When the razor was brought closer, his face wrinkled and he screamed. However after a moment he realized that it didn't really hurt so he stood still under the watchful eyes of his parents. There was no choice but to shave off most of what was left of his hair leaving a little on the top of his head with a wisp just barely there on his forehead.

"Ready, my big boy!" His mother congratulated him, hugging him after he got off the high chair he was in. "Did you see that it didn't hurt?"

Aidan shook his head from side to side, a bit puzzled with having less weight on it; he was used to shaking his head and having his hair fluttering with him frowning. Touching his head, it felt a little cold.

"I don't like it, Mom!" He exclaimed in horror as he climbed back onto the chair. "Stick it back to my head please," he pleaded with the hairdresser with teary eyes.

His parents sighed in unison, they knew that a long afternoon awaited them.


End file.
